Originally Posted by
Boraxo
I would strongly recommend against using Telestial. Not only is the price outrageous compared with locally purchased SIM cards, but the customer service is mediocre. We bought a card last year to use at the winter olympics After burning through the starter card, we attempted to "reload" the card with more money via telephone and internet. It took 96 hours to get the additional minutes added to the card, and there was no live customer service during this period (telephone or email).
By the time someone responded, we had already purchased another SIM card locally which was activated immediately.
I second this opinion of Telestial's CS. I purchased a United Mobile sim from them about a year and a half ago and had the same issues with reloading it. After about 6 months of frustration I realized I could reload the card via UM's own website and the credits post immediately.
That said, I have also had VERY poor service from the UM sim. I have used it in both my Treo 650 and a RAZR V3i and incoming calls (which of course are the free ones) hardly ever come through. Anytime my GF would call from the US it would go straight to the voice mail and then I would get the notification a few minutes later. I also had more dropped calls then I could stomach.
I am heading back to Europe in March and I am thinking about trying the Cingular discounted roaming plan just so I have emergency access and the ability to make the occasional call. I will use Skype for everything else.
Local sims are pretty much out of question for me as I don't ever stay in a city/country for typically more then a day or two.
Craig